From the author:

Empire in the Sky is a personal project that is in essence a labor of love.
I started this project just to 'see if I could whip up a space building game in three months', and four years later
I have "graduated" as an OpenGL programmer. Ever since I was a little kid I have avidly played video games. I played
80% of titles released during my lifetime and I have explored deeply the meaning and substance of games, animation and
virtual worlds. In 2005, I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University having studied under Randy Pausch (co-founder of
the Entertainment Technology Center) and Jordan Mechner. I've also been a fan and friend of Al Lowe since the early 90s.

Over the years I have developed a core underpinning that makes Empire in the Sky a unique experience in gaming. Not only
is the approach innovative, but the content is developing to a standard far higher than when I started this project. I have
learned that specializing in procedural animation is a key aspect to modern game design. I have also routinely sub-specialized
into various aspects of animation, geological and astronomical sciences, and science history to think of and develop pseudorealistic
parts of the game such that it has a subtle aftertaste of non-obtrusive edutainment.

Generally I am employed as a web developer for companies large and small. However, things are a-changin' on the web and
I see my future in a different industry if I can manage the transition. Though I spent my days in academia working in multimedia, the
bread and butter of my existence has been developing the web backend. Although I enjoy and hopefully will return to work in that specialty,
it is nowhere near as rewarding as developing Lost Astronaut and the Empire in the Sky game title.

What initially started in 2007 as a simple C program using libAgar, this project has grown into
over 130,000 lines (and counting) of rock-solid C++ objects encompassing thousands of features and individual animation techniques. The work
directory for Empire in the Sky is beyond 5GB, and we have terabytes of backups from over the years. For the effort of a lone developer, this is
an enormous amount of work embodied in the game and its artwork. It seems daunting at times, but I press forward because I can see the light at the
end of the tunnel. I also think about the ramifications of the framework itself, and how it could be enhanced to provide powerful tools to other low-budget
game developers down the line.

Legal Notice

Copyright and disclaimer
The game "Lost Astronaut's Empire in the Sky" is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the
author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
events or locales or persons, fictional or non-fictional, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All images, text and content are copyrighted unless otherwise noted.

About the Author

H. Elwood Gilliland III is an independent game developer, scientist, and web guru. He has worked in "unofficial, unpaid" positions on
dozens of AAA industry titles, including Fallout 3, Skyrim, Halo II, SPORE, Urbz: Sims in the City, GTA: San Andreas, Midnight Club Racing, Mass Effect
and Terraria.